Watch CBS News

Bloomsday Fans Say June 16th Is Perfect Day For Father's Day

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Rosenbach Museum is hosting its 21st public reading of James Joyce's groundbreaking novel, Ulysses, Sunday. The novel takes place on June 16, 1904 and the date has become known as "Bloomsday" in honor of the book's main character, Leopold Bloom.

Bloomsday falling on Father's Day is an auspicious co-incidence since, according to Rosenbach director Derick Dreher, Ulysses is the ultimate book about fatherhood.

"One of its characters is a father in search of his son and the other is a son in search of his father, and there are illusions to the Oedipal story and Hamlet and so many stories of fathers," says Dreher.

The link was not lost on David Bradley, an arts educator who was one of the several dozen featured readers. He got his 11-year-old son Noah to join him.

During reading:

David: "Reincarnation. That's the word,"

Noah: "Some people believe, he said, that we go on living in another body after death, that we lived before."

"My father was a Joyce fan, so it's fun to be out on Father's Day [and] remember him by doing this and doing it with my son," said Bradley.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.